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5 Signs Your Allergies Are Out Of Control

Jan 26, 2018,
category: TalktomeDoc Health Blog

Having itchy eyes, runny nose, itchy skin, not able to sleep or concentrate can be a sign that you are having allergies.

Allergies occur when your immune systems mounts a reaction against substances that are not usually harmful to everyone. These substances called allergens could include environmental elements like dust and smoke, chemical substances like perfumes, food substances like nuts and so on. Your immune system may see these substances as invaders and mount a preventive reaction by producing antibodies to ‘attack’ them.

That ‘attacking’ process is what results in symptoms like sneezing, coughing, tearing, red eye or wheezing.

Well here is a fact; there is really nothing you can about some of these things, for instance dust. We have dust everywhere, so we can’t run from it nor hide from it anyway. So it all comes down to maintenance which is quite important as long as our health and wellbeing is concerned.

There is an endless list of possible substances that people may react to and often times you only get to know you react to a substance after one or two experiences. The definitive way to prevent allergy is to avoid the allergen. However, once a reaction occurs, there are options to treat this including the use of anti-histamines, decongestants, steroid spray, and Leukotriene receptor antagonists and so on. Some allergic reactions can be so severe that they result in life-threatening complications that are known as anaphylaxis. This article will inform you on how to recognize allergic symptoms that are out of your control (severe).

SIGN 1: Shortness of breath

It is not uncommon to have occasional sneezing, running nose, and watery eyes following exposure to allergens. However, when you begin to find it difficult to breath, or your breathing makes a ‘whistling’ sound (wheezing) or your chest is feeling tight, you should immediately call for help.

SIGN 2: Rapidly progressing swelling of the face, tongue or throat

Severe allergic reactions such as occurs from insect bites or stings can result in a rapid onset of facial swelling which also affects the tongue, inner lining of the nose, and the throat. This creates a sense of partial obstruction of the airways causing you to breathe noisily. These symptoms develop within minutes to an hour and if not attended to, could be life threatening.

SIGN 3: Feeling dizzy or light headed

Severe allergic reactions can trigger processes that result in a low blood pressure so that the amount of blood that flows to the brain is reduced. This might make you feel dizzy or light headed or even lose consciousness. These are signs of very bad allergic reactions that need urgent medical intervention.

SIGN 4: Long-standing symptoms

Allergic symptoms that run continously for longer than one month is surely out of your control and requires urgent medical attention. Long-standing symptoms may affect your sleep and cause you fatigue and chronic tiredness. They could also affect your mood resulting in depression and poor relationship with people. Not uncommonly, long-standing symptoms of allergy could indicate that the medications you are using to manage these symptoms are no longer effective because of long term use.

SIGN 5: Persistent Flu or Cold

If you have cold or flu, it's expected that your stuffy nose should go away in a week or two. However, if the congestion goes for several days or even weeks, then allergies are more likely to blame. Whe you are having an allergic reaction the lining of your nasal passage swells, making it have extra mucus. If not treated early you might get sinus pressure and headaches, as using Decongestants can give you short-term relief. For a long-term action plan, talk to a Doctor.

Reasons Your Allergies Might be Getting Worse

Allergies can really get worse, and that's a fact, there are several reasons why. So let's talk about those reasons and hopefully some tips:

Climate change - a drastic change in weather can result in allergy-like symptoms anyway, wacky temperatues can also make your allergy severe.

Air pollution - Ironically, allergies are worse in cities than in the suburbs because of air pollution and higher levels of ozone.

Alcohol - You must avoid alcohol when your symptoms are acting up. Bacteria and yeast in the alcohol produce histamines, chemicals that cause allergy symptoms like stuffy nose and itchy eyes.

Cigarettes - with their numerous toxic chemicals and irritants—are nasty for everyone, but allergy sufferers may be especially sensitive.

References

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (July 2012). "Food Allergy An Overview" (PDF). Archived from the original (pdf) on 5 March 2016.